World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Monday that the rapidly spreading Ebola outbreak in Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda was advancing faster than response efforts, with the latest suspected death toll reaching 220.
Speaking during an online meeting of the African Union, Tedros said delays in identifying Ebola cases had forced health responders to “play catch-up.” He warned that the outbreak was expected to worsen before conditions begin to improve.
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Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said he would travel on Tuesday to Democratic Republic of the Congo, the center of the Ebola outbreak, along with senior World Health Organization official Chikwe Ihekweazu, who oversees health emergency response efforts.
Earlier on Monday, neighboring Uganda confirmed two additional Ebola cases, bringing the country’s total confirmed infections to seven. Tedros warned that countries bordering Congo remained at high risk and urged them to take immediate preventive measures.
The World Health Organization has classified the outbreak of the rare Bundibugyo strain of Ebola as a public health emergency of international concern.
Tedros added that efforts to contain the rapidly spreading outbreak were being made more difficult by security challenges in Congo’s Ituri and North Kivu provinces, as well as the absence of approved vaccines for the Bundibugyo virus strain.
